The Abdication of the Godaime
by AbsintheJade21
Summary: A collection of interrelated two-shots taking place during the days surrounding Tsuande's abdication to Naruto. Many pairings both romance and friendship. First up, Gaara/Lee, 'A Far Off Place.' First two-shot FINISHED!
1. A Far Off Place Part One

This is the evolution of an idea, inspired by my lovely beta reader, Wash (thanks for putting up with me!), and a reviewer from my other Naruto story, mori3 (thank you!). I wanted to expand on that story with various pairings and back stories, but it always felt forced and not appropriate for that storyline.

So…here is a collection of two-shots revolving around a very important day, the day Tsunade abdicates her position to Naruto (huzzah!). Although these stories were inspired by 'Konohagakure Holiday' they have nothing to do with it and are AU only in the fact that the storylines themselves are (obviously) not canon (yet…tee-hee!). They will involve many different pairings, both romance and friendship. If you want to critique my writing, by all means do so; however don't flame me for the sole purpose of saying that you hate A paired with B. Thanks for reading!

For the record, I still don't own Naruto.

**The Abdication of the Godaime. **

**A Far Off Place: Part One**

Today was different.

Gaara sent out his thoughts in different directions. They writhed and buzzed, trickling through the cracks in his mind, beating themselves against the sides of his head.

It had begun like any other day; rising from his small straw pallet after another sleepless night, followed by a very early morning walk through Suna, inevitably followed by a meager breakfast, usually prepared by Temari to make certain that the Kazekage actually did eat, before reporting to his office.

"Temari."

His sister turned from her frying pan at his statement. The eggs crackled merrily in their oil, nearly drowning him out. Only she would have been able to hear the question in the commanding monotony of his voice. The chuunin exams, the battles with Lee and Naruto, even the Konoha nin rescue mission, had all combined to push Gaara towards the goal of becoming more human. Unfortunately, her brother had yet to grasp the art of conversation.

"Today is different."

Again, another question. Temari blushed and shrugged, hoping she hadn't made her excitement too obvious.

"Not really. Why do you ask?"

Gaara furrowed his brow, resting his chin in his hands, childishly. He attempted to call his thoughts back to his mind. It was the same. Another similar day to every day before it, yet different somehow.

"It's different."

He found himself feeling angry. Gaara suppress the urge to snake the sand around his sister and shake her into understanding. She had to feel the difference in the air. It was heavy, heavy with a tension that Gaara was unable to pinpoint. It felt humid. The sand armor clung to his skin with an added weight, as if someone had doused his entire body with water. Gaara held his fingers in front of his face, rubbing the sand particles between them. Temari shrugged again, turning back towards the eggs.

"Today we leave for Konoha, if that's what you mean."

She was trying desperately to keep the giddiness out of her voice. The eggs sizzled as she deftly flipped the sweet omelette onto a smooth china plate, presenting it to her younger brother with a flourish. Gaara poked at the eggs disinterestedly with his chopsticks.

"You're happy to see that shadow user again."

His voice did not accuse, only state, and he watched the patchy redness spread across Temari's cheeks, a rarity for his older sister.

"No! I'm just excited to see Naruto finally become Hokage."

"The 'bratty, hyperactive, kyuubi boy.'"

Again, there was no change in his voice as he quoted his sister. Only she, or possibly Kankuro, would be able to pick up on the subtly implied irony. Gaara's mouth stretched thinly across his face in the closest semblance of a smile that the Kazekage ever showed. She had to know that he would have found out eventually, even if he hadn't seen them together in the darkness.

It had been over a year ago, when the Nara boy had passed through Suna last. Gaara often stayed late at his office. Usually having completed the day's paperwork, he had become an avid reader and was slowly making his way through the extensive private library at his disposal.

Closing the book, he allowed the musty smell to drift over him. It was a cold night as he stepped outdoors to make his way back to his siblings' house. The desert hummed with a life that was rarely seen in the baking heat of the day. The noise weighed on Gaara, adding to the rustling sound of sand that was a permanent product of his thoughts.

As he rounded the corner, he discovered that one of these humming noises was his sister, backed against a nearby building by the Nara boy. Gaara called his sand quickly, waiting for the best opportunity to strike. He watched, muscles tightly wound, thoughts pouring into his mind like the sand. After waiting for several minutes, it slowly dawned on Gaara that Temari had both beaten this boy and saved his life. She would only be in this position if she wanted to be.

The whole incident had left Gaara confused. His sister had willingly been beaten into submission by an inferior sparring partner. Months later, it dawned on Gaara that maybe it had some other meaning than sparring; however the thought was still beyond his comprehension. He filed the incident in his mind, with the intention to bring it up with his sister later, after he had learned more about her situation.

"Oh, I haven't called Naruto that in ages!"

"It was last week, when I received the invitation."

Temari sniffed and glared at her older brother, something that she had only recently found the courage to do. It made Gaara strangely happy, and in a surprisingly benign way. He glared back.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," she said, grabbing an envelope from the kitchen counter. "This came for you the other day."

Gaara studied the envelope for a moment, turning it over in his hands. It bore the Konoha wax seal on the back. Lacing his finger underneath the flap, he neatly tore the letter open, filing fine grains of sand into an edge sharper than a knife.

_Sabaku no Gaara-sama, Fifth Kazekage of Sunagakure-_

_We were very pleased to hear your positive reply to our invitation. We expect to see you in Konohagakure in four days time. Although we are well aware of your accomplishments, we must follow standard village protocol. A highly esteemed jounin will meet you at the gates, and will act as your personal bodyguard throughout the ceremonies._

Gaara frowned and then shrugged. He was mildly insulted at the idea of having a bodyguard, but accepted that the protocol must be followed. As Kazekage, he had begun to accept these minor annoyances as part of a much larger routine. It was a routine that was neat and orderly. A routine that Gaara had learned to rely on, and take comfort from.

Quickly scanning the rest of the letter, identifying his reservations at a local inn and the schedule of events, his eyes fell on a hastily scribbled note at the bottom of the paper.

_Gaara- _

_Sorry about all of the formalities. I'm still not used to it so I had granny Tsunade write most of this for me. Just wanted to let you know that I requested Bushy Brows to be your assigned bodyguard. I figured you'd want someone you already know. –Naruto_

He turned the slightly crumpled letter over in his hands. The rushing of the sand was deafening in his ears. Slowly his eyes rose, resting upon the large letters 'A' and 'N.'

"A day similar, yet different."

Gaara's whisper dissipated into the far heavier Konoha air. Everything seemed to move that much slower in the forest. His body felt heavier from the humidity that his sand armor had absorbed. The cloying perfume of flowers deadened his nose.

He stared at the letters, marveling at how the difference of one letter could change the meaning of a word so easily. 'A' and 'N,' 'A' and 'I.' 'Hermitage' and 'Love.' They nearly meant the same thing. To retreat from the world, a demon who loves only himself. However, he wasn't that person anymore.

Konoha was the least restful place. Gaara clutched his hand over his forehead and fitfully tugged at his hair. He twitched, placing his other hand, that held the crumpled itinerary, over his chest. There was a tugging there, a pull. They had run from Suna because of this tug, almost immediately after Gaara had read the letter.

Temari felt her annoyance rapidly grow to anger. A vein twitched in her forehead. Her brother had stopped at the gates and was currently gazing up at them with a half-dazed expression. They could have been safely in the hidden village right now. She could, at this very moment her brother was staring off into space, be in front of an achingly familiar door waiting in anxious anticipation for the man who could be behind it.

"Oy! Gaara, hurry the hell up!"

Luckily Kankuro saved her the trouble of getting angry.

The often left-behind puppeteer was panting heavily. Sweat pooled on his brow, quickly falling in rivulets from his face where it slowly dripped onto the ground. Kankuro had stubbornly refused to remove his hood or his kabuki makeup the entire journey from Suna to Konoha.

"W'y dwy haa t'get there s'soo 'nee way?"

Kankuro spit out bits of bread as he spoke. Gaara blanched in disgust. He'd never appreciated messes of any kind.

"I think what our oh-so-sophisticated brother is trying to say," Temari began, shooting Kankuro a similar look of disgust. "Is that we've been traveling awfully fast. Was there something in that letter? Is someone in danger?"

Gaara narrowed his eyes. He still wasn't used to the prying, no, questioning, that came with having two older siblings. Unknowingly, he still enjoyed more privacy than many born to his birthright. He didn't see the need of explaining his actions to anyone. His brother and sister were not responsible for him anymore.

And yet, he now knew that they weren't questioning his ability to take care of himself, or checking up on him because they had been instructed to. It was the same thing that had made him pause at breakfast. Temari had glared openly at him without fear, like a sister should. He sighed.

"No."

Temari and Kankuro looked at each other for explanation before turning back to their brother. The air was still, but noisy, filled by the soft crackling of the campfire that Kankuro had insisted they light.

"Are you ready?"

It was not too long ago that Gaara had been able to quiet his siblings with a stare. Not so long, but it seemed like a lifetime. Their pupils would dart to the corners of their eyes. Their breath would quicken. Shukaku would quicken at their palpable fear.

Kankuro simply glared at him, annoyed, rubbing his feet.

"We made it here in three days. Three days. It was supposed to take four at least."

Gaara shrugged. He hadn't been able to put his thoughts into the right words to explain how he was feeling when Kankuro had asked him as they had rested the night before. It couldn't be explained now, as the question hung, laced in between the irritation in Kankuro's statement. A confusion, a pain. A 'heart pain,' as he had voiced to Yashamaru many years before. But it was stronger now, and not as sharp.

Checking her own anger, Temari quickly flashed their identities towards the two ANBU guards that stood, hidden on the top of the wall that wound itself lazily through the forest, encompassing the hidden village. As the gates slowly opened, Temari ushered her brothers through. Kankuro sighed in relief, continuing to rub his sore and blistered feet.

Gaara continued to stare at the gates. He involuntarily shuddered at the initial contact of his sister's hand pushing him forward, still unused to casual touching. Somehow, now that he was at his destination, he had to fight the urge to dig in his heels. Suddenly, he felt like turning around and running back to Suna. In one day, if that was possible.

**A/N: **On Gaara's little space-out: The hiragana on the outside of the doors to Konoha spells 'an,' which means hermitage, place of rest, retreat, etc. The kanji on Gaara's forehead means love, spelled phonetically in hiragana as 'ai.'

Sorry if this chapter was hard to follow. I wanted to make it a bit like Gaara, focused inwardly on thoughts and flashbacks, sometimes disjointed, sometimes insightful.

I've included a limited use of honorifics between the characters because it makes the stories ten times easier to write. You'll see it a lot more in the next chapter due to the main character's POV.

Why is Gaara suddenly so reluctant to go into Konoha? Where is Lee? Why is Kankuro so useless? These questions and more answered in the conclusion of 'A Far Away Place.' Thanks for reading! Please review!


	2. A Far Off Place Part Two

Finally, part two of 'A Far Off Place!' It was hard to write and I hope you all enjoy. Remember, these are all two-shots, so the next story will involve two new main characters. If you really like any of these stories and feel as if they need to be continued in more depth, please let me know! I'm always open to suggestions.

As always, Wash, what would I do without you? I'd be a far worse writer, that's for damn sure.

**The Abdication of the Godaime**

**A Far Off Place: Part Two**

Rock Lee sighed, searching his mind for the best way to tell Tenten.

"Look, I don't know what you're so worried about. So you had a bad dream about the Kazekage? You were the first person to ever hit him, I know you'd be able to hold your own in that fight." The slight girl began the meticulous and careful cleanup of her weapons from the training area.

"It wasn't all that bad of a dream…," Lee mumbled, flushing briefly. A clang echoed from behind him as Tenten began to slowly wrap her practice kunai into a clean cloth.

"Did you say something?" She looked up curiously from her kunai, furrowing her eyebrows as she took in Lee's blush.

Lee quickly shook his head, causing his mop of black hair to sway in a neatly-trimmed unit before executing a graceful somersault from the tree branch he had been sitting on.

Tenten shrugged and smiled. Her friend may have been awkward in every conversation he participated in, but he moved with an admirable amount of masculine grace, a testament to his incredible work ethic. He alighted near the base of the tree trunk and seamlessly pulled out an embedded shuriken, casually tossing it to his training partner.

"You know, with your taijutsu, I'm sure you could take to weapons well, Lee."

He sheepishly held up his bandaged hands before gesturing to his orange legwarmers.

"Sorry Tenten-san. These are all the weapons I need," Lee declined politely.

"Your loss," she replied cheerfully, gathering up the bundle of weaponry. Lee chivalrously reached over her to carry the pack.

"Yosh!" He started with his old enthusiasm. "You are absolutely right, Tenten-san. Gaara-sama isn't a monster, and one dream shouldn't ruin our youthful friendship!"

"That's not exactly what I meant," Tenten muttered. She refrained from sharing her exact opinion of Sunagakure's leader as Lee seemed to count him as a friend.

Lee, too busy to notice her skepticism, smiled broadly with a new spring in his step. Gaara was consistently busy with his duties as Kazekage, although once in a while he managed to respond to Lee's long and rambling letters. Lee giggled as he imagined Gaara in his Kazekage hate, bent over a pile of paperwork and scribbling off a terse reply. His laughter quickly turned into a silent blush as an unbidden image from his dream floated its way to the front of his thoughts, involving the redhead bent over something else entirely.

"Excuse me Tenten-san, I must go!"

He neatly bowed before shoving the pack of weapons into her hands and disappearing, leaving only a trail of dust to show where he had been.

Lee ran blindly, squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to erase the images from his brain, relying on memory to carry him through the town.

"These are most unyouthful thoughts! If I cannot stop thinking about Gaara this way, I will do 500 laps around Konoha!"

"Hey crazy eyebrows, or whatever the hell they call you!"

An unfamiliar voice halted Lee, who stumbled uncharacteristically, stopping at the gates of the hidden village. As he looked around, his eyes rested on a familiar trio of siblings. The brother, complete in his makeup and cat hood, was frowning at him and waving.

"You're just in time! How did you know that we'd be so early?"

Lee stared for a minute, wincing under Gaara's piercing gaze. The Kazekage had shrugged his sister's arm from his shoulders and now pinned the leaf jounin with a stare. Knowing that the thought was ridiculous, Lee couldn't help but wonder if some of the terrible rumors about Gaara were true, and he could currently read Lee's mind, perverted thoughts and all. Lee pushed this thought down, along with the nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach, and launched into a friendly greeting.

"Kazekage-sama! Temari-san, Kankuro-san! How splendid to see all of you, and in such a fantastic time! I didn't expect any of you until tomorrow, and was simply running my training laps around the village, but I see the power of youth has prevailed and brought me here at the exact right time!"

He reached out a moment and shook Kankuro's less-than-enthusiastic hand. The expression on Temari's face went from annoyed to amused, and Gaara continued to stare at him.

"Gaara," the Kazekage finally said aloud.

"What was that, Kazekage-sama?"

"Call me Gaara."

Lee flushed and nodded grabbing Gaara's hand in a powerful handshake. Temari and Kankuro tensed. Gaara's new efforts to become more human hadn't reached the stage of casual touching yet.

"Okay, Gaara-sama, where do you want to go first? What do you want to do? You all must be tired, I can show you to your quarters if you would like."

The Kazekage also tensed, but allowed Lee to quickly shake his hand, rubbing his fingers together curiously after the loss of contact. Kankuro and Temari visibly relaxed.

"Yeah, some rest would be amaz…," Kankuro started before he was swiftly cut off by his brother.

"I would like to see the preparations for the ceremony."

"C'mon, Gaara, I'm so tired. After you forced us to get here so quickly, I really need to relax," Kankuro whined.

Lee winced, bracing himself for a violent retaliation from the Kazekage. When none came, he opened his eyes cautiously. Gaara shrugged his shoulders the slightest bit and turned from his siblings towards Lee.

"You two can go ahead. Kankuro, go sleep. Temari, go to that shadow-user. At some point one of you will check in with the Hokage, announcing our arrival."

Temari blushed furiously and narrowed her eyes at her brother before nodding. She quickly ushered Kankuro forward, before he could begin to complain about why one of them had to check in with Tsunade instead of Gaara himself.

"The preparations are going quite smoothly," Lee began, smiling brightly to contrast with the awkward feeling that had settled in his chest when he realized that he was now alone with Gaara.

"Naruto has actually been quite cooperative when dealing with the new amount of work. I am sure he will make a most excellent and youthful Hokage!"

Gaara nodded and fell into step beside Lee.

"I would like to spar with you," the Kazekage said abruptly.

Lee's grin spread widely until it took up the majority of his face as he paused to flash Gaara the 'Nice Guy Pose.'

"Yosh! I have just come from training and am already warmed up and prepared! Do not think that simply because I have been working hard all morning that I am tired! I will not go easy on you, Gaara-sama."

The Kazekage's mouth twitched a bit as the ends turned upward in resembling a smile. Lee felt the nervous feeling tighten in his chest and he resisted the urge to blush.

Gaara swiftly and noiselessly walked out of the village, stopping a few feet from the gates. The sand in his gourd trembled and buzzed restlessly as he turned to face his sparring partner.

Lee happily bounced out of the gates, barely able to contain his excitement as he raised his arms into a fighting pose.

The cork released with a pop, followed by the hissing sound of gallons of sand being released. It was a sound that formerly had given Lee nightmares, and now haunted his dreams in a completely different way.

Gaara struck first, releasing the sand in a controlled but violent manner. Lee easily countered this with a swift kick, blocking the attack and quickly countering with a series of lightning-fast punches. These were easily blocked by Gaara's sand armor, allowing the Kazekage to relax for a moment and plot his next offensive.

Lee whirled, nearly dancing, around Gaara, landing light punches and kicks to the sand armor, searching for a weakness. As he rapidly circled his opponent, Lee sifted a few stray grains of sand between his fingers. They were sticky with sweat and humidity. Firing off another blinding round of kicks, Lee watched as the sand armor seemed to slow, just a fraction. The Konoha jounin grinned as he realized Gaara was slower than his best because of the humid air of the forest. It was only a tiny percent, insurmountable to the untrained eye, and certainly undetectable by a genin or even chunin, but it was there.

Smiling broadly at his sparring partner, Lee aimed few punches at the armor, hoping to keep Gaara occupied as he reached down with his other hand and released a few of the weights from his legs. If he was able to increase his speed enough, he could break through the protective sand shield and possibly land a punch or kick.

Gaara blinked as he watched Lee's speed double. He had yet to see Lee in combat since the fight with Kimimaro years before, and the Konoha nin had increased his skill exponentially. Artfully shifting the sand, he drew it closer into his body until it created a second tight seal around his skin. Lee landed a kick mid-thigh, still not touching Gaara's skin, but propelling him backwards towards the forest.

The two men stood still for a moment, facing each other, panting. Lee smiled at the Kazekage as he ran his fingers through his hair, distributing sand and sweat. Faster than Lee could track, Gaara released a second barrage of sand from the gourd wrapping it tightly around Lee's neck, pinning him to a nearby tree.

Watching helplessly as Gaara approached, Lee struggled against the sand, causing it to tear at the more tender skin on his neck, pouring into the wounds with a burning dryness.

"You are not afraid of me."

The Kazekage was still shorter than the leaf jounin, and his head came up to Lee's neck. He looked up at the taller man with an intense green stare.

"Why."

Lee attempted to shrug, but was held steady by the sand.

"Because…you're my…friend."

Gaara stared at the ground and released Lee with a hiss of retreating sand. Lee fell unceremoniously to the ground in a heap, breathing heavily.

"I wanted to see you," Gaara said. It was more of a question than a statement.

Lee smiled up at him tiredly.

"Maybe it's because I'm your friend too."


End file.
